Final push

van conversion almost complete!
With the lighting and electrical in we could quickly focus on other prettier things.

The entire van interior got wrapped in bamboo panels and the rats nest of wires (though tidily ziptied and organized) running throughout got hidden and protected. We drilled out recessed plates to make sure everything sits flush to the wall (and also looks neat and tidy)...we learned early in our years of vanlife that anything sticking out from a wall will be quickly kicked, bumped, knocked and abused. This attractive solution keep those bits (and our bits) safe.

The ceiling slats that have been sealed and sitting in a stack for a few weeks came back out and installed in a whirlwind.

Funny for such a long project of templating, cutting, retemplating, recutting and refining to literally take 20 minutes to install. Absolute gratification!!

We have now turned our attention back to the cabinets that will make our feel like a home. Months ago I made protptypes in steel and have been seeking others to help transform those into slightly more refined prototypes in aluminum... we finally found a few people to knock out those frames and our biggest time delay was removed from the list of obstacles.

Now we are racing to try and get the bamboo "skins" that will hide/house all our belongings fit into those frames. We've sought the help of a very talented craftsman for the finish work and are thrilled to have so much of his after-work time despite being in the middle of the holiday season. It's all finally coming together, all very thrilling and exciting... but our hours at the shop are growing even longer each day. To be honest...i can feel that we're drawing near that breaking point that seems to happen deep into a project as the deadline draws near.

Probably doesn't help that i've been ill the last few days, making everything seem that much more tedious.

It seems we've been so heads down in the shop lately that we've missed the winter storm passing through portland. Been a good cold reminder of where we are heading, but at least the last week or so we've been looking at 12+ hour days so we only see the winter wonderland when coming and going.

For both good and for bad, the light at the end of the tunnel is drawing rapidly near and we know that in a few days...finished or not...we are hitting the road, where we will undoubtedly think of 100 things we wish we had gotten to, but will also be able to take a deep breath, relax and enjoy the fruits of our labor.